The Saint Francis product took part in rookie minicamp

Austin Coleman left the Seattle Seahawks' rookie minicamp feeling he'd done everything he possibly could to get noticed. Now he plays a waiting game.

Coleman, a Fort Wayne native who set kick-return records at the University of Saint Francis, hopes to hear from the Seahawks in the next couple days to see if they'll offer him a free-agent contract.

“I felt like I came out and showcased my skills,” Coleman said Sunday night waiting for his late-night flight home. “Especially on the third day, I was familiar with the offense and I knew what to do on all the assignments and I was able to go out and execute them.”

Coleman worked as an inside and outside wide receiver during the first two days of minicamp, but the Seahawks worked extensively on the kick- and punt-return teams on Sunday's third-and-final day of workouts.

“They wanted to see how I am at cutting and making that guy miss on the edge, and I was able to do that,” Coleman said. “I was getting a lot of positive feedback from the coaches, 'good job,' 'nice cut,' everything like that. Hopefully, this will open some doors.”

Coleman, of course, is taking a traditionally long-shot route to the NFL, coming from an NAIA school.

But as more than one NFL coach has said, once you're in the pro camp, the playing field evens out.

“I made a few plays during scrimmage and, hopefully, they can look at that and see that I caught on and hopefully I'll get a call back,” Coleman said. “I know that I was able to do what I needed to do. Either way it goes, my thoughts will be positive that I showed them I was capable of doing what I needed to do.”

Waiting to see what happens next will be difficult, Coleman said.

“It'll be very nerve-wracking; I'm not going to be able to sleep,” Coleman said. “This is a big step in my life. I'm pretty sure I made a good first impression.”